Islanders vs Lightning Game Four: Odds, Lineups, TV and more

The New York Islanders have a chance to even up their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning today at 3 p.m. Here’s everything to know about the matchup.

The New York Islanders will be looking to take all the momentum from game three and carry it over to today, as they look to tie up their Eastern Conference Finals series with the Lightning in a matinee matchup in Edmonton.

Game three was about as good a game as you can get in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Both teams battled and traded punches and the game was tied 3-3 with under five minutes left. The Islanders got the last laugh with a game-winning goal from Brock Nelson and Pageau put the icing on the cake with an empty netter to give the Islanders a 5-3 win.

The Islanders will again be the home team for today’s game four matchup. So far the “home” team is 3-0 this series and the Islanders will look to improve that record.

Tale of the Tape

Betting Odds

The Islanders come into today as the underdogs, courtesy of the Action network.

The Islanders battled hard in game three and were extremely resilient in getting the victory. They battled till the final whistle and showed how much of a team they are.

I expect the Isles will be fired up again for game four and are a great play as an underdog. They will look to play physical and get the puck to the net from every angle.

Projected Lineups

Many Islanders fans were caught by surprise when fourth-line center and top penalty killer, Casey Cizikas, was announced unfit to play and missed game three.

The Islanders made some huge adjustments and put Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck between Jean-Gabriel Pageau and inserted Michael Dal Colle and Derick Brassard in place of Andrew Ladd and the injured Cizikas.

These lineup changes paid off for the Isles and they are expected to get the same lineup for this afternoon’s game. Barry Trotz’s did not provide the greatest update for Cizikas and he is not projected to take part in game four.

The Islanders defense will remain the same and Semyon Varlamov is projected to get the start after stopping 34 of 37 shots faced.

The Islanders are projected to lineup like this:

Lee-Barzal-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-Bailey
Martin-Pageau-Clutterbuck
Dal Colle-Komarov-Brassard

Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Mayfield
Leddy-Greene

Varlamov (Greiss)

Tampa played extremely well on Friday night, even though they were missing two of their top forwards, Brayden Point due to injury and Alex Killorn due to a one-game suspension.

Killorn is expected to be back in the lineup today and is a key player in front of the net on the Bolts power play.

There has been no indication, as of yet, if Point will be fit to play today. Chances are we will not find out if he will be in the lineup, until the rosters are submitted. It was a great sign for the Lightning that Point took part in their morning skate yesterday.

Tampa is projected to keep their seven defensemen in the lineup and Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to get the start in net.

The Lightning are projected to lineup like this:

Palat-Point-Kucherov
Killorn-Cirelli-Johnson
Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman
Maroon-Paquette

Hedman-Bogosian
McDonagh-Cernak
Sergachev-Shattenkirk
Schenn

Vasilevskiy (McElhinney)

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Where to Catch the Game

TV: NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

Radio: 88.7FM 103.9FM 98.7FM

*All Stats Provided by the NHL*